New Zealand’s Mitch Evans wins inaugural Jakarta E-Prix

Jakarta, June 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing fended off the close attention of Jean-Eric Vergne of DS TECHEETAH and Edoardo Mortara ((ROKiT Venturi Racing) to clinch his third win of Season 8 at the inaugural Jakarta E-Prix, here on Saturday.

Evans made a late race-lunge that caught leader Vergne of DS TECHEETAH off-guard at Turn 7 on Lap 31 in an opportunistic move from way back. From there, energy management became increasingly critical for the lead duo as they fought between themselves and against searing track temperatures here.

That allowed Mortara to join the party and look to pick up the pieces as Evans and Vergne squabbled. Evans had some five minutes plus added time to hold the pair off, with the race anybody's heading into the final turn and his rear tyres fading fast.

The Kiwi held on to lead Vergne and Mortara home as all three drivers finished within a second of each other.

Antonio Felix da Costa (DS TECHEETAH) slipped from second at the start to fourth come the chequered flag, with standings leader Stoffel Vandoorne (Mercedes-EQ) making three crucial passes through the race to wind up fifth and retain his'Drivers' World Championship advantage, albeit a more slender one.

With Vandoorne's closest rivals all finishing on the podium, the Drivers' standings closed up: now just 12 points split the top four, with Vergne five points back from the Belgian, Mortara two shy of the Frenchman in third and Evans another five back in fourth.

Mercedes-EQ still sit atop the Teams' running on 186 points, 16 ahead of DS TECHEETAH which climbs above ROKiT Venturi Racing in the points table.

Source: IANS